🌀Mood: Grateful, Reflective, Hopeful, Vulnerable, Faith-filled It’s been almost six months since I last sat in this chair. And yet, here I am again. The last time I was here, I was still fighting to get my multiple myeloma under control. Every treatment was another step toward my stem cell transplant, another step toward the hope of remission. But today is different. I’m in remission. … Continue reading 54 – Back in the Infusion Chair
🌀 Mood: Overwhelmingly grateful, joyful, hopeful, and faith-filled. There are moments in this cancer journey that I will never forget. The day I was diagnosed with multiple myeloma. The day my doctor told me that a stem cell transplant was necessary for me to survive. The day I received my stem cells back. And now, another day I will never forget. The day I learned … Continue reading 53 – MRD Negative: When the Unthinkable Became Undetectable
“We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure.” – Hebrews 6:19 🌀Mood: Reflective, deeply grateful, hopeful, vulnerable, faith-filled, and ultimately joyful. One year ago today, my life changed forever. On July 28, 2025, after five months of relentless back pain, countless questions, and visits to five different doctors, I finally received an answer. It wasn’t the answer I expected—or the … Continue reading 52 – My Anchor Held: One Year Later
Day +90 🌀Mood: Thankful, Encouraged, Waiting Today marks Day +90 after my autologous stem cell transplant. Ninety days. When I was admitted for transplant, Day +90 felt impossibly far away. At the time, I wasn’t thinking about milestones. I was thinking about getting through the next day, the next blood draw, the next medication, the next wave of nausea and fatigue. But somehow, one day … Continue reading 51 – Ninety Days Later
🌀Mood: Hopeful, Reflective, Grounded, Grateful, Cautiously Optimistic It’s Day 70 after my stem cell transplant, and on Wednesday I will have another bone marrow biopsy. Typically, these milestone tests happen closer to Day 90 after transplant. But my oncologist wanted mine done earlier, around Day 55, to get a sooner look at how my body — and the myeloma — are responding to treatment. I … Continue reading 50 – Two Things Can Be True
🌀Mood: grateful, reflective, healing, hopeful Tomorrow, I go back to work. Half days. Slowly. That sentence feels much bigger than it probably sounds. For weeks, so many people have been counting down to this moment for me. “Getting back to normal.” “Getting back to life.” And in many ways, I understand why. Returning to work after a stem cell transplant feels like progress. It is … Continue reading 49 – Half Days & Healing
🌀Mood: reflective, honest, grounded, hopeful, resilient There are certain milestones in this process that you hold onto. For me, one of those has always been Day 90. That’s the point where they typically run the big tests—the PET scan and the bone marrow biopsy—to see if you’re in remission. It’s been the marker in my mind. The checkpoint. The moment where you finally get a … Continue reading 48 – The Long Game
🌀Mood: uncertain, patient, honest, grounded, reflective One thing I’m learning about recovery is that it doesn’t always come with clear answers. Sometimes, it comes with more questions. I had an appointment with the neurosurgeon this past week to look into the pain I’ve been feeling in my back… along with a fractured rib on the right side. That alone was surprising. You would think that … Continue reading 47 – Waiting for Answers
🌀Mood: steady, reflective, honest, patient, grounded There’s a space in recovery that no one really talks about. It’s the space between better… and back. And that’s exactly where I find myself right now. On the outside, things are improving. I’m home. I’m moving more. I’m walking anywhere from 6,000 to 10,000 steps a day which is supposed to be good for my recovery,. The swelling … Continue reading 46 – The Space Between Better and Back
🌀Mood: Reflective. Disappointed. Patient. Grounded. Faith-filled. Today is Day 30 of my stem cell transplant. This is typically the day patients are discharged and sent home—so it’s a big milestone in this process. For me, it looks a little different. Last week, I had a setback related to my GI tract—side effects from the melphalan chemotherapy. It slowed things down and pushed my discharge date … Continue reading 44 – Day 30 – A Milestone, Even If It Looks Different
